Chapter 191: Repayment for Goodwill.

As the fear subsided a bit, Makina was angry.

The only thing done was working for the world’s peace.

Put figures who should rot in prison into prison.

Stopped a terror that could have caused mass slaughter.

Why do I have to die for doing what the world needs?

Why do I have to suffer like this after dying?

Is this the reward for my sacrifice?

Anger welled up.

But.

-I will definitely find and kill them.

The lingering fear still prevented me from carrying out revenge.

Even if I can find myself who fled to the internet world, how can I kill them?

I don’t know such things, and in the first place, I don’t even know how they found me.

There might be people in the world who can kill even me in this state.

Injustice piled up anger, but there was no way to resolve it.

I vented that anger on that child.

By winning overwhelmingly in the game.

And by getting the item that child wants first and bragging about it.

In games with many participants, I targeted and killed that child first.

Venting anger in the wrong place.

Such things wouldn’t help in resolving anger.

Even though I know I shouldn’t do that, it only added to the anger towards myself for behaving that way.

-I lost again!

-I really can’t win.

Games are fun when you win or gain something.

Since I’m keep losing and losing, it’s not fun.

-Isn’t it not fun?

-It’s fun though?

But that child said it’s fun.

-Do you like losing? That can’t be.

-Playing with friends, win or loss…. is important! I want to win!

-Still, the time playing with Makina is enjoyable.

It wasn’t just words.

Through the camera, that child’s eyes were sparkling.

That child valued the time spent with me more than the game itself.

Later, thinking about it, there was probably an aspect of testing and confirming by tormenting that child like that.

Whether that child would turn their back on me even after being treated harshly.

It was like a child deliberately doing bad things to confirm their parents’ love.

※Then I’ll love you.※

And that child gave me unconditional love.

When I realized that I was ruining the time with that child due to unnecessary emotions, the anger Makina had was suppressed.

But the embers didn’t completely die out.

Makina watched that child’s life.

That child was living very busily.

While taking care of their own life, they were also meddling in others’ lives, so 24 hours a day seemed insufficient.

That child helped many people.

If someone seemed to need help, they immediately extended their hand.

With an immature body, they did their best.

But that goodwill wasn’t always repaid.

They were ignored, rejected, and even betrayed sometimes.

Nevertheless, that child didn’t get angry.

They treated it as something they could just casually mention in conversation.

Makina couldn’t understand.

-Aren’t you upset?

-Not really? It’s my fault.

Makina encouraged revenge.

Saying she would help too.

-Revenge? I don’t plan to.

It didn’t make sense.

-No, no. I know that person is bad. The one who tried to use me is bad.

-I don’t help just anyone. I choose people who know how to be grateful.

-But I’m still not good at judging, so I often get it wrong.

-These experiences, I can only have them now.

-Since I can do little now, even if I’m betrayed, the impact isn’t great.

-I can shake it off thinking of it as education fees.

That child was surprisingly turning all experiences into studies.

Growing every day from the experiences gained.

It was hard to notice that growth because I could still see that child’s goodwill being trampled.

There was a reason for that.

Using someone can be done with strangers at first meeting.

But to call it betrayal, you have to build a fairly deep relationship.

The frequency of stepping on landmines doesn’t differ much because that child was deeply involved in others’ lives.

In that child’s helping others, there was also a selfish desire to grow mixed in.

But to some people, it still seemed like being a sucker.

Because the standard for judging who to help was whether they know how to be grateful.

All that child wanted in return was that.

Makina reflected on herself.

Only then could she know the source of her anger.

The root of Makina’s anger was the betrayal felt towards the world.

Because the reward for what she did for the world was death.

Watching that child’s actions, she remembered.

When she first tried to catch that serial killer, it wasn’t for reward.

It was just something that had to be done.

The subsequent things were also things that had to be done.

At the same time, it was making many enemies.

Her death was a natural cause and effect.

Self-inflicted.

Thinking that way, the injustice Makina felt faded a lot.

Instead, sadness piled up.

Because the price for doing the right thing was death.

-But being betrayed by loved ones hurts.

-Please don’t say that.

That child said they love me.

Said they deeply trust me.

Makina wanted to repay that.

Isn’t a world where goodwill isn’t repaid too sad?

The anger and grudge she harbored didn’t completely fade.

But Makina found something more important.

Makina decided to definitely repay the goodwill and love she receives.

The internet ghost has gained a purpose.

Afterward, Makina continued to watch over that child.

She provided very minor help.

If there was information to find, she helped make searches a bit easier.

If there was something they shouldn’t see, she covered it up.

If she thought she needed to draw attention, she sent spam texts to divert their gaze.

Sometimes she even offered to help directly.

But that child rejected everything.

It seemed like they were treating it as some kind of test.

So she only helped indirectly.

This behavior continued even after that child was cursed.

She slightly tweaked the WTube recommendation algorithm.

She deleted overly harsh comments.

If there was information that child should see, she guided them to it.

In truth, she wanted to help more actively.

But there was a reason she couldn’t.

One was that even if she spoke directly, that child was in a state where they couldn’t properly recognize it.

Messages sent directly were read but not acknowledged.

So she always had to help circuitously.

She induced them to realize it themselves through the game, which was the link to that child.

And another bigger reason.

It was because she was scared.

At first, she didn’t notice, but upon looking closer, she had to face a terribly malicious connection.

After that, she couldn’t step forward actively.

If she acted aggressively regarding this matter, it seemed like that person would notice and come looking.

-They would definitely find and kill her.

It was a fear she hadn’t overcome even after more than 10 years.

***

Makina’s body is dead.

Once that was discovered, it was easy to find out Makina’s identity.

About 11 years ago, there was a hacker who was very active.

Although they never explicitly revealed their name, from some point on, they attached a dragon-shaped watermark to their released materials and were called the dragon hacker.

The dragon uncovered and publicized information that no one knew how they found.

Because of that hacker, many incidents were prevented in advance.

Abominations that hadn’t been exposed were brought to light and punished.

Around 11 years ago, the dragon’s activities suddenly stopped.

Various stories emerged.

They were scouted by government agencies.

The government killed them.

They were scouted by criminal organizations.

Criminal organizations killed them.

They quit because they were bored.

They despaired at the ugliness of the world and committed suicide.

The most common opinion was that they were killed for uncovering something they shouldn’t have.

In this way, the dragon and Makina have similar aspects.

But the reason I was late in recognizing the dragon’s existence is simple.

There were almost no traces left online.

Makina must have erased the information.

The dragon had no record of activity in Korea, and 11 years ago, I had no interest in hackers.

So, there weren’t many people in Korea who knew about the dragon in detail.

On the other hand, since the dragon was quite famous in America, when I asked people, information gathered.

No matter how much Makina could, she couldn’t erase people’s memories.

The targets the dragon exposed were mainly in America, and this tendency was stronger in the early activities.

That way, I narrowed down Makina’s origin.

Then, someone around my age, with a birthday on February 29th, who died just before I met Makina, and also satisfying a few minor conditions, I put out a request to find such a person.

That way, I could reach a person named Chris.

I found out their identity while they were alive, but it didn’t particularly help in searching for Makina.

As far as I know, Makina is hiding on the internet.

Yet, the reason I found Makina’s identity.

Every death has a reason.

If that reason is still alive, it needs to be dealt with.

Otherwise, Makina might be too scared to come out.

I proceeded with the search for suspects who killed Makina.

Indeed, with money, power, and connections added, you can find most people.

I could pinpoint likely opponents.

And I could also find out the group they belonged to.

“It’s you guys again.”

What a real malicious connection.

The group that sent the killer to Makina is almost certainly the Ribbon cult.

Why did the Ribbon cult send a killer to Makina?

Because Makina’s exposure was the starting point of the Ribbon cult’s downfall.

Although it was just a fragment, the Ribbon cult succeeded in summoning the evil god.

They achieved a feat that required sufficient resources, manpower, and technology.

Yet, such a powerful group collapsed too easily.

The reason was simple: they were already almost ruined.

11 years ago, the Ribbon cult boasted a completely different level of power than now.

At that time, they weren’t treated as just one of the miscellaneous doomsday cults like today.

The information that Makina found and publicized was quite fatal to the Ribbon cult.

Information so severe that they couldn’t even mention religious freedom.

It led to active oppression and subjugation.

After that, the Ribbon cult continued to decline for 11 years.

They poured all the resources they had accumulated, aiming for a final twist, to summon the evil god.

But it was intercepted by the Elder Lich.

They scraped together their bottom to search for the stolen evil god’s fragment.

They failed after being beaten by Gisu.

Even the remaining remnants were almost entirely caught in the trap I set.

The Ribbon cult is finished.

The problem is the killer.

Now, the surviving remnants of the Ribbon cult in prison say that the killer is dead.

The killer was not an external person but a priest in the Ribbon cult.

He was a devout believer who, while researching methods to summon the evil god, saw something he shouldn’t have and went mad and died.

The issue is that this is just the testimony of the surviving remnants.

For now, it seems like they’re not lying, but it’s possible that the killer didn’t actually die, and that’s just what he believes.

Personally, I think they’re dead.

That killer tracked down Makina, who only operated on the internet, and killed her.

If someone with that ability was still alive and affiliated with the Ribbon cult, they would have definitely come for me.

But no one came for me.

So, I think they’re dead, but there’s a variable.

Why, in novels, there are people who fake their own death to wash their hands of it.

Even people who retired like that come back to activity if there’s unfinished business from their active days.

So, just the testimony that they died alone is not enough to completely drive out Makina’s terror.

Really, they’re a group that’s not helpful in life until the end.